Cinematographer - Photographer

Life here is worth nothing

Guatemala-City

More than ten years after the peace agreement which put an end to the longest (36 years) and most bloody civil war in Central America, the violence has not abated in Guatemala, remaining the major preoccupation of the population.

In 2008, Guatemala has not finished counting its dead. In the capital alone, there has been an average 20 murders per day since the start of the year. The streets of Guatemala City are amongst the most dangerous in the world. There are an estimated 360,000 legal and 2 million illegal weapons in circulation.

Political

France 2016-2017

From day to day, I photographed the demonstrations and political events, such as the meeting of Les Républicains in La Baule, the second round of Les Républicains' primary elections, the terrorists attacks, the #NuitDebout movement (place de la République) in Paris and the Front National.

Northern Nigeria

Since July 2014, the northern Nigerian city of Kano was six times under attacks of the islamist faction Boko Haram. The assault of the 17th of September killed 15 people and wounded 35. These deadly actions are reflects of a daily violence that Nigerian government is unable to cut down. Second largest Nigerian city by population and local capital, Kano is a major strategic target for Boko Haram that seeks to spread its inflence. The city embodies tensions between Abudja’s government, located in the Christian south, and northern areas with majority Muslim population and that jihadists try to rise up.

If the last Kano slaughter was committed in the name of the « rejection of Western education » from which is entitled Boko Haram, the whole society is insidiously eaten up, and the advancement of Boko Haram’s ideology can be daily noticed. For instance, the islamic faction forbids – ”haram”- vaccination campaigns against polio. Some families as Mallam Salisu’s one deny any kind of aid. All together, Nigeria is one of the last areas in the world where poliomyélite is breaking out.

Mullens

"The heart and soul of America reside here, in West Virginia" (G.W Bush, September 2004)

Located on the borders of the Appalachians Mountains, land of coal and hunting games, Mullens is a small town settled between a railroad and a river. 1800 souls, seven churches, no one outside.

The main street leads to the “Wyoming Hotel”, remnants of a past time. The closing of coal mines, replaced by open cut mines, threatened traditionnal industries, unemployment,and the troops being stuck in Irak….none of these aspects seem to have weighed in on the final issue in last November’s presidential vote.

No particular event or news led Mullens’ choice. Apart from the fact that this town is located in the heart of a state (with a distinctive social history: workers’ movement “Mother Jones”, former New Deal stronghold) and which has always voted for the democratic candidate, apart from the last two presidential elections.

Just the wish to encounter another America, and to try to understand its codes, far from the New York or Washington hustle.

Prison Valley (Long feature version)

A town in the middle of nowhere with 36,000 souls and 13 prisons, one of which is Supermax, the new "Alcatraz" of America. A prison town where even those living on the outside live on the inside. A journey into what the future might hold.

Bitter frontiers

Lebanon

On July 12, 2006, following the capture of two Israeli soldiers by the Hezbollah Shiite militia, Israel has launched during 34 days, an intense bombing campaign in Lebanon.

An Israeli land offensive that started on August 9, had met a strong resistance of the Shiite militiamen. The toughest fights happened in the village of Bent Jbeil, at the border.

Forgotten people

Cairo, Egypt

The buildings are built on the sand at the foot of Mount Sinaï. Haggana used to be an outlying suburb of Cairo: now, it is one of the city’s largest slum.

In Cairo, 40% of the population live in these “informal” areas, whose development comes from a rural exodus which started in the 1960s.High voltage power lines streak the sky above the roofs and wastewater leaks through the walls, yet there is neither running water nor electricity in the flats. These districts are like Cairo’s garbage can, and garbage recycling is part of their economy. The majority of the inhabitants know precarious living conditions and extreme insalubrity. Only a very few of them can have healthcare, which is very rare in the country. Living in these districts is like being sentenced to exclusion: it’s easy for the Authority to ignore them, as they have no administrative existence.

Because in Egypt, one has to pay for his birth certificate, most of the inhabitants of the slum have no legal existence. Only 1200 of 1 billion of Haggana’s inhabitants have their personal voter card, which excludes the population from political decisions.

Fort McMoney (Long feature version)

Justice pour le Tchad (Film)

Prison Valley (Interactive)

A town in the middle of nowhere with 36,000 souls and 13 prisons, one of which is Supermax, the new "Alcatraz" of America. A prison town where even those living on the outside live on the inside. A journey into what the future might hold.

Hope !

Wind of change. Pennsylvania November 2008

On stage

The Serbian memory

Kosovo

Under UN protection since June 1999, the Albanians of Kosovo declared their independance on February 17,2008.

“Since 1999 more than 200,000 Serbs have fled Kosovo and 22,000 more have abandoned their apartements or houses to find refuge in nearby village enclaves. And while albanian villages are draped in flags and banners, resembling the aftermath of a national holiday, the serbian ghettos yield to misery and desperation. (…) Some Serbs dream of leaving but in the Gorazdevac enclave, as in other areas,many want to stay at all costs. Because of their dead, because of their land; this cradle which beckons them like an eternal grave” (Aline Maume, Geo mag).

Fort McMoney (Interactive)

“You are embarking on a documentary game in which everything is real: the places, the events, the characters. Your mission? To visit Fort McMurray, measure what’s at stake, vote on referendums and debate with other players. Fort McMoney’s fate is in your hands.” 1

Fort McMoney is a self-described “documentary game” set in a real oil boomtown, Fort McMurray, located in northern Alberta, Canada.2 Players of the Fort McMoney game can explore the city, debate local issues, and vote on referendums that decide the city’s virtual fate . The critically‑acclaimed project, released in 2013, was directed by David Dufresne and co‑produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), ARTE, and digital agency Toxa. In the game, players control a virtual city that starts off identical to the real-life Fort McMurray, in terms of population, economic productivity, and other variables. However, over the course of four episodes,3 players debate and vote on a series of referendums that affect the balance between the social, economic and environmental health of the virtual city. The game helps players understand the situation in the town of Fort McMurray as well as the oil industry in Canada and globally. Players take part in the full life cycle of democratic decision-making in a compressed timeframe, thereby learning—by becoming active—about both the democratic process and the complicated issues at stake for the town.Fort McMoney is among the NFB’s most ambitious and widely-seen interactive documentaries, thanks both to its innovative format and its creative distribution partnerships with three major newspapers and online media partners, in three countries: The Globe and Mail and ICI Radio Canada, in Canada; Süddeutsche Zeitung in Germany; and Le Monde in France.4 This case study provides an overview of the team’s creative process, its strategies for distribution and audience engagement, and assessments of the project’s success.

Hurricanes

Texas and Louisiana 2005

One month after the passing of Katrina, the streets of New Orleans are strewn with rubbish and abandoned cars. The inhabitants have fled the city. Today some return to their homes and often find nothing worth keeping. Floods of dirty water coming from a score of sewage plants, continue to sweep in the city. It is estimated that 160 000 homes have sustained irreparable damage. On september the 24th, only a few weeks after Katrina, an other hurricane - Rita - arrived on the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico. And in a few hours, it wiped-out a region located further west, between Texas and Louisiana.

Dickinson College

Carlisle, Pennsylvania 2008

In 2008, Philippe Brault documented the life of Dickinson College, one of America's oldest university of liberal arts located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Between the dining hall, the classes, sports and religious practices, Philippe Brault portrays the well-established rituals of the American University, the typical campus, and the lifestyle of young Americans during their years of university.